Esper Genesis is a heroic sci-fi RPG for 5E by Alligator Alley Entertainment that was funded on Kickstarter earlier this year. Inspired by Star Wars, Mass Effect, Phastasy Star and Ghost in the Shell players take on the role of a galactic hero where they forge their destiny within a universe of advanced technologies and hidden mysteries. A limited run of the game will be available at Gen Con and Rich Lescouflair of Alligator Alley has shared some of the games artwork with us (below) and also let us know what the company is planning for Gen Con…

Esper Genesis: Heroic Sci-fi for 5E is coming to Gen Con
On the anniversary of its initial announcement, Alligator Alley Entertainment will be at Gen Con 50 to present Esper Genesis, the science fiction RPG powered by D&D 5E.

Basic Rules Release
A limited printing of the Esper Genesis Basic Rules will be available for sale at the Studio 2 booth in Aisle 1929/2029. This 160 page full color rulebook provides the necessary tools to create and run a 5th Edition sci-fi campaign, including new alien races, character classes, and introductory starship mechanics.

These printed copies are priced at $24.95 and will only be available at Gen Con. A $5 discount will be applied for backers who supported the project on Kickstarter as well as anyone who pre-orders the upcoming core book set.

These early access printed copies are limited to Gen Con only, but will be available as a downloadable PDF sometime after the convention.

Pre-orders
Missed the Kickstarter? Late Pledges and Pre-orders are still being accepted via BackerKit! Exclusive discounts are available on any of the core book bundle packages. Orders can be placed from the game’s official website at espergenesis.com.

Organized Play: The Crucible Corps
Gen Con will also be the official start of the Esper Genesis organized play campaign, the Crucible Corps. The initial adventure, “The Matokai Engine” was previewed at the Origins Game Fair. Those signing up for will receive official Crucible Corps ID numbers to be used at all OP events going forward.

Esper Genesis Alien Design Workshop: Join Esper Genesis 5e RPG's Lead Designer, Rich Lescouflair, for a workshop on alien design! A species from this workshop will appear in the Silrayne Threats Database sourcebook for Esper Genesis.

During the Kickstarter I played the free offering: Esper Genesis, Fall of Eos Keldor. My impressions: the 5e rule set fit seamlessly and it seemed like a great fit. Only the starship battle component seemed a little 'clunky'. Hopefully it has been refined since that initial offering.

I have led the EG Kickstarter and have been very happy with it so far. However, I haven't looked at it much. For my kids group I am thing of using it for our next campaign (just started a regular D&D game and half of them are beginners).

Sadly, the dead tree version only available at gencon is a deal breaker. That only means nobody will ever see it. Looks like starfinder is still my goto. Pity. Nice art.

The limited availability is only for the printed Basic Rules at Gen Con. The actual game is still being developed and is going to be released in December as three hardcover books - similar to the 5th Edition D&D books.

Personally I think D&D inspired systems simply don't fit for Sci-Fi games, simply because they are too melee focused and characters tend to have too much HP to really do justice to advanced Sci-Fi weapons.

Personally I think D&D inspired systems simply don't fit for Sci-Fi games, simply because they are too melee focused and characters tend to have too much HP to really do justice to advanced Sci-Fi weapons.

I think waiting until we see how this game does it before writing it off is a good plan.

I don't think @Derren was 'writing this one off'. But he has a very valid point. I often find it very hard describing all the 'hits' when lasers & bullets start flying. Such systems don't seem deadly enough and describing endless grazed shots etc can sound odd. Whittling down of HPs has proven to be odd for me in these systems too.

I don't think @Emirikol_Tessain was 'writing this one off'. But he has a very valid point. I often find it very hard describing all the 'hits' when lasers & bullets start flying. Such systems don't seem deadly enough and describing endless grazed shots etc can sound odd. Whittling down of HPs has proven to be odd for me in these systems too.

And many are. Warhammer 40K, Starship Troopers, etc.
And the problem I mentioned are also visible in modern games, maybe even more so than in SciFi ones. You can always find some technobabble why melee combat is still a thing, but running through MG fire in a modern/WW2 setting to stab the gunner to death is hard to imagine, yet in most D&D/D20 systems this is exactly what happens as they are geared for close range and melee combat and usually provide a very generous HP buffer that you are not killed before you get into melee range.

You can of course increase the damage of guns into the stratosphere like Dragonstar tried but this is hardly a ideal solution.

And many are. Warhammer 40K, Starship Troopers, etc.
And the problem I mentioned are also visible in modern games, maybe even more so than in SciFi ones. You can always find some technobabble why melee combat is still a thing, but running through MG fire in a modern/WW2 setting to stab the gunner to death is hard to imagine, yet in most D&D/D20 systems this is exactly what happens as they are geared for close range and melee combat and usually provide a very generous HP buffer that you are not killed before you get into melee range.

You can of course increase the damage of guns into the stratosphere like Dragonstar tried but this is hardly a ideal solution.

Then Pathfinder isn't going to be it for you either. Best to play Traveller as every nitpick will be true for 3.5 no matter what minor Starfinder tweaks they've made.

Dry erase boards. Flip mats. Graph paper. Lego. Theater of the Mind. All of these are valid, tried-and-true methods of tracking movement/combat in Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs. While I've employed all of these in the past, nothing has worked better for my games than the dungeon tile.

Here at EN World, I'mlookingatall-agestabletoprole-playinggames, board games, andcard games. Do they engage the players at the kids' gaming table? Would they cut it at the adults' table? Are they genuinely fun for every age? Amazing Tales is "a game for children who love adventures". Martin Lloyd's RPG is designed for a GM and one or two young players, and includes the rules, GM tips for young gamers, four settings with adventure hooks, and more.

The campaign that our group will be starting next week (and that I wrote a little bit about here last week) got me to thinking about martial arts role-playing games in general. I am probably by no means an aficionado of martial arts movies, or media, but I have enjoyed some Chinese martial arts films over the years (my first college roommate was/is a martial artist and fan of the movies). Plus, I am more of a fan of contemporary settings, and unfortunately the number of games that combine these two things are few. However, today I am going to talk about the Tianxia: Blood, Silk and Jade role-playing game from Jack Norris and Vigilance Press.

In Mythras, player characters are tied to family, village, and cults and their quests change the world around them and influence the direction of society’s growth. Mythras is mythic in scope and the PCs create legends with their adventures. This review covers a newcomer’s overall impression of Mythras.